Spirits: Craft whiskey distillers are over a barrel

Jason Wilson has raved about high-quality whiskeys that have yet to be found in area stores, in part, he says, because of a system that makes it more difficult for craft distilleries to distribute their products.
(James M. Thresher for The Washington Post)

"The future of whiskey is about rosy as it gets." So trumpets the first page of the American Distilling Institute's 2010 Directory.

That bright outlook is quickly followed by this sobering thought: "The future of specific brands, especially craft-distilled whiskeys, is less so."

Such were the contrasting assessments presented by the ADI, an organization of craft distillers, at its seventh annual Whiskey and Moonshine Distilling Conference, held this month in Louisville. With seminars and panels including "So, You Want to Open a Distillery," "Mixology and Marketing" and "High-Proof Blending: Pros and Cons," and a small trade show with companies hawking oak barrels, organic malted barley, frosted bottles and more, there was plenty of encouragement for those looking to begin making distilled spirits.

Meanwhile, there were plenty of reminders about what a brutal business spirits can be for the would-be entrepreneur.

On one hand, American microdistilling is more vibrant than it has been since before Prohibition. The number of licensed distilleries in the United States more than doubled in the past decade, from 300 to 725. On the other hand, the spirits industry is still dominated by giant multinational conglomerates and hampered by most states' draconian three-tiered setup, in which a privileged wholesaler is placed by law between the producer and the retailer, making it a small miracle if craft-distilled products actually land on a liquor store shelf. The old joke in the wine business about how to make a million bucks -- start with $10 million! -- seems apt here.

Yours truly sat on a panel and was asked rather blunt questions about How to Get Good Press. (I'm not sure that what I said will have business schools clamoring for my insights: Make good booze; tell a true story; don't bother me with too many news releases.)

Making whiskey is an especially tricky proposition. Try approaching a bank loan officer with this business plan: "Okay, so we've made this amazing product. But we're not going to sell it just yet. See, what we're going to do is stick it in a wooden barrel. Then we're going to wait two or four or six years. Or longer. Then we're going sell it."

"A lot of people would really like to make whiskey, but the big problem is the barrel," said David Pickerell, a former master distiller at Maker's Mark and now a consultant, who spoke at the conference. "The thing everyone wants to know is, 'How can we get this stuff out of the barrel faster?' "

The reality of the barrel is why so many start-up distilleries first sell vodka and other white spirits in hopes of financing the aging whiskey to come.

Yet despite all of the obstacles, it truly is an exciting time for American whiskey. The new generation of distillers will change the way we think about the spirit, and the microdistilling trend should continue to snowball over the next decade as small-batch whiskeys win greater awareness and distribution.

For now, the revolution moves slowly. It breaks my heart that so few of the interesting, high-quality whiskeys I tasted at the conference are available at stores in Washington, Maryland and Virginia.

Among those that are sold here are some I've raved about before, such as the excellent rye whiskeys from Tuthilltown Spirits in New York's Hudson Valley, the unaged whiskey from Death's Door in Wisconsin, and Rendezvous Rye, made by High West Distillery in Park City, Utah.